Demon of the Opera
by arwentheelf02
Summary: They'll go to any length for a shard. But can they face...singing? Rated PG just to be safe. Two OCs involved but NOT Mary-Sues.
1. Take Your Seats

A/n: Hello and welcome to my first joint fic with my best friend (claps) whose username is Moonglow gal. Yay! Anyway, enjoy! This is a chapter fic, so read only if you're willing to stay a while.

* * *

"I sense a shard in that village over there," said Kagome. She, Inu-Yasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Myoga were on the outskirts of a forest and quite close to a rather large village. There was nothing particularly strange about it as they passed through; no demons or people with a shard-induced madness. The citizens would just look at the band strangely for a moment, then hustle off to do their own work. Everybody was moving so quickly and so single-mindedly that nobody even bothered to question them.

The group followed Kagome's sharp senses until they reached a large building. "There," she whispered. The building was two stories tall and made entirely of bamboo, as were all the houses in this particular village. They walked up to the door and knocked. A short, chubby, middle-aged man answered.

"Ah, welcome, strangers. I am the leader of this city. Welcome to our humble village."

Kagome was slightly flustered. She was so used to the shard being embedded in something or someone, but there seemed to be nothing wrong here. The group had never asked somebody for a shard; they had always won it in battle. How could they ask for it without sounding aggressive?

Kagome fumbled her words. "Um...look, we-"

"I know who you all are and why you're here. The God of Music has told me. He speaks to me often in this season, during the Festival of Music."

"The Festival of Music?" asked Miroku.

"Yes," smiled the village leader, "This is the time of year after the harvest that we honor the God of Music, the patron god of this city. Everyone of this city and all who enter it are beautiful singers and musicians. It is because He protects this village. This goes even for you all. Now that you have entered this village, you all have gorgeous voices." He motioned to Sango. "You, lady. Sing for us a little. Repeat after me." He hummed a scale in perfect pitch.

Everybody peered at the demon slayer. Sango hesitated, then began to sing the scale. Her soft alto voice began to sound in a beautiful, sweet tone like honey. She clamped her hands over her mouth, unused to such lovely sounds coming her body.

"You see my point, good people." The group gaped at Sango, then at the strange man. "Now, back to business," he chirped, like nothing had just happened, "You are here for the shard." The village leader waddled inside his home and took a bamboo box from a table just inside his home. He opened it in front of the gang, and sure enough, there was the shard. It was rather large, placed unceremoniously inside the small container. "You may have it. We are constantly worried about being attacked because of this little thing."

Inu-Yasha reached for the box, but the village leader quickly snatched it away. "On one condition," he said, "In order to earn the shard, you all must perform in the Festival of Music as a sacrifice to our god." He beamed like that would be the greatest honor.

Miroku and Myoga nodded their heads in agreement. Sango was still a little dazed, but did likewise. Shippo looked excited. Kagome was too; because she was always in the Feudal Era, she could never participate in something like this.

Inu-Yasha, in a word, flipped. "WHAT? No way! Sorry, old man, but great voice or not, there is no way you will hear a note from THIS haynou. I am NOT going to perform in your little festival! You can just take that box and shove it up your -"

"Inu-Yasha!" interrupted Kagome, "This man has been very kind to us! Plus, we need to get that shard before somebody else does. Think if Naraku tried to get it. He'd kill the whole city."

"Thank Kami. I wouldn't have to sing," sniffed Inu-Yasha.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Just agree to sing."

"No way."

"Inu-Yasha, don't make me..."

"Just try me, wench."

Kagome closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She began to sing a scale, but with every note, she sang instead, "SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!"

She opened her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest. "Now, Inu-Yasha, will you sing in the festival?"

All she got from the subterranean half-demon was a groan.

She wheeled on the village leader. "We would love to perform for you!"

The village leader started to clap. "Brava, soprano!"

* * *

A/n: Sorry about boring prologue. It will get better, I promise!


	2. The Lights Dim

A/n: I forgot the disclaimer last chapter! So here goes: I do not own "Phantom of the Opera". If I did, I would not be where I am, because Andrew Lloyd Webber made 2 billion off of "Phantom". Not that I'm bitter or anything. And I don't own Inu-Yasha eiether. If I did, Sesshomaru would have been dead a long time ago...

* * *

"So," continued the village leader, "do you have anything in mind? Anything that you'd prefer to perform?"

"What?" asked Kagome. She hadn't thought about that. "Well, um, I don't know...I'm not sure of my options..." She turned to the others for help. They shrugged or shook their heads. "Really, sir, I have no idea."

Myoga spoke up. "Why don't you go to your own time? I'm sure you could find something there that we could do."

Kagome brightened up. "That's a great idea! Erm..." She turned to the village leader. "You may not believe me, but, um, I'm from the future." How awkward was this?

The village leader smiled knowingly. "Lady, in this world, anything can happen. Go to your own time. Return when you find something for the festival."

Kagome bowed. "Thank you, sir." She faced her friends. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She glanced at the haynou-shaped hole in the ground. "Make sure you tell Inu-Yasha where I am."

Shippo grinned. "Don't worry. We will!"

* * *

"Kagome!" 

"We were so worried about you!"

"I heard you had the Black Plague...how did you get out of that one?"

'It's so great to be back.' thought Kagome. She had forgotten how crazy school was, but she was glad to see her friends. They were always one of the best parts about coming home. But there was something different about the old classroom...

"Hey, who are those two new students over there?"

"Oh, those are two transfer students...all the way from America! They're best friends, so they chose the same city. That one's named Valerie. Doesn't she have pretty hair?"

Valerie did have great hair. It was longer than her waist, stick straight and pitch black. She was of Asian descent; Chinese, Kagome guessed, and kind of short. She was reading a thick book in English.

"Who's the other one?"

"Her name is Rose." Rose had pretty green-blue eyes. Her hair was light brown, wavy and rather long as well. She had pretty earrings on each ear and was talking with many of the boys in the class. "Their houses are very close to your shrine, Kagome!"

After school, Kagome checked out the local music store. She saw many songs that she liked, but there was nothing that they could do as a group. Plus, most of them were mushy love songs and would probably make Inu-Yasha gag to death. Although that would be an amusing sight, she wanted him to participate as well, and went home empty-handed.

That night Kagome did her homework in her own room for the first time in weeks. It seemed almost a relief to work out math problems in her head while the rain hit the window. She scribbled down another answer in her notebook...

As the first clap of thunder hit the air, her bedroom door burst open and a tall figure stood in its place. Kagome screamed in surprise and fell off her chair, landing in a heap on the floor. She tried to reach her bow and arrows from under her bed, but there would be no time if the intruder was going to attack. She clamped her eyes shut and waited for the first blow...

"Hey, wench!"

Kagome opened her eyes. That voice was all to familiar.

"D'you have a piece for us yet?"

Kagome wasn't sure if she wanted to hug Inu-Yasha for not being a murderer, or kill him for scaring her so much. She acted on the latter. "Inu-Yasha!" she screeched, "What are you doing here?"

"Didn't you hear me? Do you have one or not?"

Kagome got up and dusted off so she could retain at least some of her dignity. "The answer is no, no I do not. And can't I live for five seconds in my own world without you barging in here?"

Inu-Yasha was about to respond, when there was a knock at the front door. Inu-Yasha stayed in Kagome's room while she got the door. It was Rose and Valerie. "Hey Kagome," said Valerie, "We were wondering if you had the pages for the English homework..."

"Um, sure! But how did you know I lived here?"

"Some of the boys in your class told us," Rose piped up, "They are so cute!" Valerie poked her in the ribs. "What?" Rose asked innocently.

Kagome giggled. "Alright. Let me go get them."

Kagome stalked into her room and faced the half-demon. "You know, Inu-Yasha, it's a good thing you didn't storm in here while they were in the house. What would they think if they saw you here?"

"Well if you hadn't waited so long to get the music, we wouldn't have had such a close call!"

Kagome was shouting now. "Well if you weren't so impatient, this wouldn't happen!"

"Well if you weren't so slow, I wouldn't have to come here!"

"Well if y-"

"WHAT...THE...HECK IS THAT?" shouted someone behind her. Kagome wheeled around. It was Rose and Valerie. Valerie's eyebrow was twitching and Rose had her mouth wide open.

Kagome flushed. "I didn't know you two had followed me in here."

Valerie shifted uncomfortably. "Well, it's kind of raining out there..."

Rose was trying to form some sort of coherent word while staring at Inu-Yasha. Kagome giggled nervously. "Eh heh...guys, this is Inu-Yasha. And as an answer to your question, he's a half demon."

Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes. "Nice one, Kagome."

Then Kagome got an idea. "Hey, forget about the English homework for a second. Do you guys know a musical piece that a group of people can perform for a music festival?"

Valerie was still a little flustered, but kept her wits about her and turned to Rose, who was still in shock. "Hey, Rose, what's that name of that play you love so much?"

"Huh? What?" Rose snapped out of her trance. "Oh, you mean 'The Phantom of the Opera'?"

"Yeah, that!"

Kagome brightened up. "You know something? Great! How would you like to help Inu-Yasha and me?"

"Sure! We would be glad to help!" beamed Rose, who had finally grasped reality.

"But one thing," said Valerie, looking at Inu-Yasha, "Can I touch your ears?"

Inu-Yasha face-vaulted.


	3. Overture

A/n: Hey again! Sorry this took so long. Eeep! It was written a while ago, just haven't had the time to type it up. And this one is going to be long (compared to the last two chapters) because I wanted to do all the auditions in one chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

"So you need to perform in order to get the shard?" asked Val, trying to make sense of it all. Kagome had just finished explaining why Inu-Yasha was in Kagome's room as they headed to the village.

"Yeah, that's right," replied Kagome, "How long will it take you guys to finish the auditions?" Rose and Val had volunteered to conduct the auditions because they both had backgrounds in music.

"Not too long. Maybe a few minutes per person," said Rose.

"And we're not even cutting anybody, just seeing how they sound," added Val.

When they arrived, Rose, Val, and the village leader set up in a clearing in the nearby forest so the auditions could be private. Kagome told everyone what was going on and to send them to the clearing. One by one they came.

"Miroku, you're a baritone. I love your energy!"

"Shippo the tenor. I kind of saw that coming." He laughed.

"Sango, that was beautiful! Your tone is so sweet!"

"Kaede, your voice is so beautiful and mysterious! I'm hooked..."

"Come on, Inu-Yasha, sing!"

Inu-Yasha fidgeted. "I don't want to sing."

"But the group needs you!" wailed Kagome, who was helping Rose and Val oversee the auditions.

"No way. Leave me alone!" He got up to return to the village. But as he was leaving, he stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. "Wait," he whispered, "That smell, it's..."

Before he finished his sentence, a familiar figure stepped out of the forest. Kagome gasped and Inu-Yasha's eyes grew wide. Rose and Val just stared. The village leader...grinned. "Ah, here you are. Everyone, this is Kikyo. She has generously offered to help us in this endeavor."

"Kikyo...what are you ding here?" breathed Inu-Yasha, "Wait a second, you sing?"

"Yes," she replied, "Just like your friends, apparently."

The village leader eyed the two before a sly grin crossed his face. It was quickly wiped off as he pretended to be surprised. "Eh? What's this? Inu-Yasha, from your expression, you obviously don't believe that Kikyo can sing."

"Yeah, so?"

"How about this: if she shows you what she can do, you have to show us." Kikyo stared at the leader, suddenly alarmed.

Inu-Yasha, catching the apprehension in her eyes, grinned at the little man. "Deal."

The village leader turned to the priestess. "Well? Do you accept the challenge?"

Her eyes darted around the clearing, which suddenly seemed crowded. Two mysterious girls wearing the same outfit as her reincarnation, her incarnation herself, the village leader, Inu-Yasha. Was she willing to set herself up for possible humiliation?

"Please, Kikyo?" asked the raven-haired girl.

"We really need both of you in this," her brunette friend added.

And while he didn't say anything, Inu-Yasha was begging her as well.

Begging her not to sing.

Finally, she turned to the village leader and said, "Why not?"

Through the corner of her eye, she saw Inu-Yasha's shoulders slump.

On the other hand, her auditioners beamed. "Here, start on this note..." He hummed a rather high pitch. "And work your way up."

She opened her mouth...

And out blasted a powerful soprano tone, with a force none of the other auditioners could quite match. Inu-Yasha actually took a step back, her voice a bit too much for his sensitive ears.

As she moved impossibly further up the sail, her volume increased, until not only Inu-Yasha, but everyone in the clearing lamped their hands over their ears wincing. Finally, Kikyo stopped singing, panting slightly. She couldn't help but grin at the others' open-mouthed shock.

"Well, Inu-Yasha?" she asked. "It's your turn," she added sweetly.

Inu-Yasha muttered incoherently under his breath. As much as he didn't want to sing, he couldn't back out. Not with Kagome there, armed with an endless volley of "sits".

He sighed. "Fine."

"Excellent! Okay, Inu-Yasha, start here..." He hummed a new pitch, mercifully lower than the one he had given Kikyo. "Repeat after me: do re mi fa sol fa mi re do."

With ears almost flattened to his head in self-consciousness, he followed the villager's instructions.

Kagome's eyebrows flew up in surprise. His voice wasn't light and energetic as Miroku's had been. Instead, it was soft, still strong, with the barest hint of a growl.

But maybe the last component was due to the fact that all the blood was rushing to his head.

The village leader led Inu-Yasha up and down the scale, each note impressing his onlookers more and more. When he was done, the little man started clapping. "Excellent, Inu-Yasha! You have a wonderful tenor voice!"

"Feh," came the reply.

Suddenly, Kagome, Valerie, and Rose burst into applause. "You kicked butt, Inu-Yasha!" Rose exclaimed.

"Very nice," Valerie added.

"I didn't know you had it in you, Inu-Yasha!" Kagome patted his arm. "You did very well!" The half-demon turned away, grumbling about the stupid shards and the cursed village leader, as well as the girls who had convinced Kikyo to sing...

Notes were taken.

The last person to go was Kagome. She stepped in front of the village leader timidly. He started with a note in the middle, then went down low, then high and higher.

Kagome's voice was gorgeous. It was full, feminine, and very expressive. It bloomed like a flower when she moved up and down. She made those few scales sound like the most beautiful hymn in the world.

A few minutes later, Rose, Val, and the village leader stepped out of the forest. All eyes turned on them as Rose held her notebook above her head like a trophy.

"Behold!" she bellowed, "The results!"

Val rubbed her temples in an exasperated fashion.

"Ok, but seriously," Rose said, "Here goes..."

"I will be playing various roles that only appear in one or two scenes," smiled the village leader. The girls took turns reading names and parts.

"Kaede will play Madame Giry, the mysterious ballet instructor."

"Sango is playing Meg, a dancer and best friend of the main character."

"Shippo will be playing André and Miroku is Firmin, the two managers of the opera."

"Kikyo will be playing Carlotta, the opera's diva."

"Inu-Yasha will play Raoul, the main character's lover and childhood friend."

"And the main character, Christine, will be played by..."

"KAGOME!" Everybody's heads snapped to the direction of the voice. There stood Koga in all his unwashed, rugged glory. He immediately grabbed her arm. "Hanging out with the puppy again? Why do you waste your time with him? Come on with me."

An evil glint appeared in Rose's eyes as Kagome wriggled out of Koga's grasp. "That...that demeanor!" breathed Rose.

Val mirrored the gleam. "That utter possiveness!"

They simultaneously exchanged glances. "HE'S PERFECT!"

Koga stared at them blankly. "Huh?"


	4. Curtain Goes Up

A/n: Hello! Tis I again! So sorry that this took so long (again). Ack! I'm such a bad authoress...I'll try to be better, but I made the musical so it'll be harder to update because of a shortened after-school time period. (waves white flag of surrender)

* * *

Before anyone could blink, the two girls had latched onto each of Koga's arms.

"What the..."

"It is he! The star has arrived!" Rose crowed.

"What are you talking about, you crazy girl?" Koga growled, hauling his arm out of her grip.

"You're perfect!" Val answered, tightening her grip on the other arm.

Realizing that he was loosing feeling in his fingers, he made a rare smart choice, and relaxed. "For what?"

"The Phantom!" the two girls replied, eyes shining.

"What in all hells are they talking about, Kagome?"

She sighed. "We're doing a performance in exchange for a shard. And apparently, my friends here, who will be in charge, want to cast you."

Rose started to sing a part from the play that was strangely appropriate for the moment: "He's here! The Phantom of the Opera!" She skipped around in circles.

Koga's eyes twitched as he looked warily at Val. "What...do I have to do?"

The two girls' eyes flashed as identical evil grins spread across their faces. "Sing."

"WHAT!" Koga ripped himself away from Val, backing away in horror. "The leader of the Northern Wolf demon clan does not sing!"

"Too bad, wolf-turd. I already had to," retorted Inu-Yasha.

The wolf demon's jaw dropped. For a moment, the two stared at each other Inu-Yasha's gaze challenging, Koga's absolutely shocked.

And then...

"BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Koga's knees buckled, dropping him to the ground, which he promptly began pounding. Tears of mirth leaked from the corners of his eyes as he gasped for breath between laughs.

Inu-Yasha's ears flattened against his head as he flushed. "Shut up."

"You – you SANG, puppy!"

"Damn it, Koga, shut up!"

"That's so rich..."

Inu-Yasha snarled and threw himself at the still laughing demon. "SHUT UP!"

"SIT!"

Inu-Yasha abruptly plunged into the dirt. "Kagome..." he grumbled.

"Well, I can't have you harming our star," she shot back flippantly.

Koga looked panicked. "STAR!"

Stepping over the flattened haynou's prone body, Kagome approached Koga. "Look..." she pleaded, "We need you. From what I gather, the Phantom plays a very important role.

"But singing?"

Kagome sighed. "Please Koga?" She didn't want to sink this low, but it looked like she had no choice. Kagome batted her eyelashes at the clan leader. "For me?"

His face reddened slightly. He grabbed her hands and said almost cheerily, "well, anything for my mate, I suppose."

Ignoring Inu-Yasha's rumbling growl, Kagome smiled. "Okay, then. Sing."

"Eh?"

Koga found himself being pushed over to the ever-smiling village leader by two uniformed adolescents.

"Alright then, Koga, let's start in the middle. Sing after me: Do re mi fa sol fa mi re do!"

Koga took a deep breath. Refusing to look at anyone but the village leader, he sang. "Do re mi –"

"Koga!" Ginta and Hakkaku burst out of the forest, gasping for breath, followed by the wolf pack.

Val screamed. "Wolves!"

Kagome automatically started to console her. "I – it's okay, they won't hurt...you..." But before she had finished the phrase, the dark-haired girl had rushed into their midst, cooing and shrieking with joy. She grabbed a wolf's head and began babbling nonsense in a "kissy-kissy-goo-goo" type of voice, oblivious to the animal's frightening whimpers.

"Um...is she like this about all animals?" Kagome asked weakly, thinking of poor Kirara and the horrors that would await her.

Rose shrugged. "This is nothing. You should see her around babies. Val! Come back!"

"Fine, fine," she muttered. She grabbed Ginta and Hakkau's wrists and dragged them both to the village leader. "Here. Test them, too." To Rose, she added, "If one's a tenor and one's a bass, they can play Piangi and Buquet."

"Good point."

"Alright, Koga, let's start again. Start here at do."

He groaned. "In front of my clansmen?"

"Yes. Now sing!"

Koga finally gave in and sang his scales. He had a wonderful baritone voice, slightly rough but still true and clear.

"Nice job, Koga!" applauded Kagome.

"Pfuh. Even I was better than that," Inu-Yasha muttered. "Sounded like a kind of ear-shattering howl."

Koga, overhearing, laughed. "You sure about that, dog-breath? Pathetic as you are, all that whimpering probably leaks into your singing."

"As much as I enjoy listening to your egos swelling," Rose interrupted, "we need to test Ginta and Hakkaku."

Although they continued glaring daggers at each other, Koga and Inu-Yasha refrained from going for each other's throats.

* * *

"So, the final cast list has been updated!" Val announced.

"Kagome plays Christine -"

"Inu-Yasha plays Raoul -"

"Kaede plays Madame Giry -"

"Shippo plays André -"

"Miroku plays Firmin -"

"Kikyo plays Carlotta -"

"Sango plays Meg -"

"Koga plays the Phantom -"

"Ginta plays Piangi -"

"Hakkaku plays Buquet -"

"And, of course, our wonder host and auditioner will play various other rose!" concluded Rose, dramatically gesturing at the village leader.

Val checked her watch. "I think that's enough for one day. Tomorrow we begin the first scene. We only need the village leader and Inu-Yasha, but anyone who wants to come may watch...quietly."

* * *

A/n: Woo. So next chappie will begin the actual play (at last!) The first chapter will be kind of boring, but it should get better after that while the plot thickens...(cues Phantom theme) 


	5. Prologue

A/n: Yay! Contrary to popular belief, I am alive! And writing!Sorry it has taken so long, I'm in a local production of "Beauty and the Beast" and it's taking up most of my life. Butby May 1st I'll be done. Be patient with me! Anyway, I realized after seeing the movie "Phantom of the Opera" again (having memorized most of the soundtrack) that many changes were made in the movie. So the version you will be hearing here is the ORIGINAL CAST VERSION! (unless I make small cuts to spoken language, but everything sung is safe under my reign...muahahaha!) So if you've only seen the movie, don't be confused. Oh, and everything sung will be in **bold** and everything spoken will be normal.

**Anote to Sparrowslove**: yes, that WAS me, that story was taken down because it was in the forbidden script form! If you want me to send you the chapters, I still have them ;).

* * *

The next morning, everyone in the cast showed up, despite what Val had said the evening before. They sat in various seats in the audience. Rose took the time to pass out the scores to the cast while Val instructed the village leader and Inu-Yasha for their very first scene. 

"In this part, you're playing an auctioneer. An auction is where people bid for certain items and the object is sold to the highest bidder. So, act like you're selling something: energetic and appealing. Stand over there," she pointed to the exact center of the stage. "We'll have people in the audience who will pretend to be bidders, which means Inu-Yasha's character will be in the audience at the time as well.

"Now you," Val turned on Inu-Yasha, "Are playing Raoul, the Viconte de Changy."

Inu-Yasha blinked at her blankly.

"I have no idea what that means either. But I do know that it makes you very rich."

Somewhere near the back row, Miroku groaned, "Why couldn't _I_ play Raoul...?"

Val's authoritarian demeanor suddenly fell. "There is something else..." She started fiddling with her hair. "Um, this scene takes place fifty years after the rest of it..."

"Forty-nine!" came Rose's shout from somewhere in the audience.

"Whatever! And, well, during that majority, your character is about twenty-five, so..."

Inu-Yasha stared at his director, not wanting to hear the rest. To add in salt to injury, Rose flounced over at that moment and said, rather loudly, "Has he agreed to use the cane yet?"

The speechless haynou's eyes grew to about the size of pineapples. On steroids. Before he could tear the teenaged directors into molecules, they shoved the bamboo apparatus in his arms and ran like the dickens in the other direction. Inu-Yasha slumped into his seat, muttering something about how this had better be a bigass shard...

"Whenever you're ready!" Rose called to the village leader.

The middle aged man began to read. "Sold! Your number, sir? Thank you. Lot 665, then, a...papier-mâché music box in the shape of a...barrel organ?" He looked at the small audience. "I shall pretend to know what those mean."

Kagome clarified. "Papier-mâché is a lightweight material. A barrel organ is a musical instrument, I think."

"Ah."

"Yeah. If you don't understand something else you might come across, just pretend you understand.

The village leader nodded and went back into character, his voice booming. "Attached: the figure of a monkey in Persian robes playing the cymbals..." He stopped again. "Where shall we get this item?"

Val fidgeted. "Well, we haven't figured that out yet..."

Rose appeared in front of the village leader, carrying a rock. "Here, use this." She plopped it into his hands.

"This item," the village leader held the moss-covered mass aloft, "discovered in the vaults of the theatre, still in working order! Showing here..." He pretended to wind the key.

Out of nowhere, the song "Masquerade" began to play from an invisible instrument. It sounded exactly like a music box, like rain falling on a daffodil's petals. The cast looked around them for the mystery musician, but there was no one to be found. The village leader just smiled. "I made a large sacrifice to the God of Music to help us with the orchestration of this play. He will play all the instruments we need."

Kagome blinked. "And He is also giving us beautiful voices AND the ability to sight-read effortlessly, right?"

"Correct, lady."

Rose whispered to Val, "I think I'm beginning to like this God guy!" and received a poke in the ribs.

The village leader continued fluidly, "May I start at 20 francs? 15 then?" Miroku raised a hand, pretending to bid. "15 I am bid..." Inu-Yasha's hand went up. "20, sir, thank you..." Sango bid. "25, madam..." Inu-Yasha bid again for the music box. "30 once, 30 twice...sold for 30 francs to the Viconte de Changy, thank you, sir!"

Inu-Yasha started to walk to the edge of the stage by himself, but was treated to a loud clearing of the throat courtesy of Kagome. Begrudgingly, Inu-Yasha took the cane and hobbled instead. The village leader reached down from the stage and handed the rock to Inu-Yasha on the audience level.

The half demon looked at the rock for a moment, played with it gently in his hands. Just as he opened his mouth, Shippo whispered very loudly, "Shut up guys! He's about to sing!"

Wishing he could chuck the stone at the fox-demon, Inu-Yasha half-whispered the tune. "**A collector's piece, indeed. Every detail, exactly as she said... She often spoke of you, my friend, your velvet lining, and your figurine of lead. Will you still play, when all the rest of us are dead...?**"

Thunderous applause and tears of joy could be heard from the area where the directors were seated. Inu-Yasha reddened and zipped back to his place.

The village leader didn't seem to notice the haynou's mortification as he continued. "Lot 666, then: a chandelier in pieces." He turned, expecting to see another modern contraption. Instead, he saw a pile of bamboo, broken glass, and candle bits that Rose had discreetly piled on the stage. Shaking his head, he kept going. "Some of you may recall the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera, a mystery never fully explained. We are told, ladies and gentlemen, that this is the very chandelier which figures in the famous disaster. Our workshops have restored it..."

"Not very well, apparently," muttered Miroku. Sango gave him a small glare.

"...and fitted up with wiring for the new electric light so we may have an idea of what it will look like when reassembled." He paused; his face twisted into a mysterious sort of grin, with one corner of his mouth slightly higher than the other. "Perhaps we may frighten away the ghost of so many years with a little illumination, gentlemen?"

Suddenly, a soft glow enveloped the audience area and the stage. Everyone looked up to see Kikyo's soul stealers floating in the air as organ music from Heaven played the Overture. The spirits slowly swooped down, heading straight for the "chandelier". Grasping it, they lifted the seemingly worthless parts off the ground. And as it began to suspend in the air, it was revealed that it was actually a series of wooden hoops adorned with candles held together by chains. Beads hung down from various points on the hoops, looking more like crystals in the shine. It floated high above the audience's heads, smoldering with the soul stealers' luster, giving the illusion that the candles were lit.

When it stopped moving, all eyes turned to the directors. "A gift from local craftsmen," announced Val. Kagome grinned.

Rose stood up. "Ok, guys, great start! Places for the next scene!"

A squad of about fifty citizens of the village jogged haphazardly onto the stage. Val stood up and addressed them from the audience. "All of you, thank you for volunteering to be in our chorus. I assume you all know your music, seeing that you have been under the influence of the God of Music for all of your lives." She glanced in the direction of the village leader for assurance. He nodded, and she continued. "Ok, here's what I want you all to do. Kikyo! Stand center stage, if you will. Thank you. Now chorus: move into a semi-circle around her, but give her a lot of space. After all: she is your diva!"

These orders were carried out with a minimal amount of chatting. Rose stood up as well. "You all are now opera singers. In this particular scene, you are rehearsing for the opera 'Hannibal'. You all are gathered around Carlotta because she is singing an aria." The directors sat down again. Val nodded to Kikyo to begin singing. She nodded back and filled up her lungs with precious oxygen.

"**Thiiiiis tooOOOooOOOoooOOken from our saviors, from our SAAAAaaaviors, from the enslaving force of ROOOOOOOOME!**"

Inu-Yasha, who was still in the front row from his previous scene, clamped his hands on his ears and began to twitch involuntarily. Everyone else winced or blinked rather stupidly. The chorus missed their singing entrance.

Val stood up again. "Chorus! Chorus! I _know_ it's distracting, but _please_ don't miss your entrance because your ear drums have been shattered!" She stole a quick glance at Inu-Yasha, who was now rolling on the floor in pain.

The chorus nervously began to sing with Kikyo, who was actually smiling, clearly enjoying the attention slightly. "**The trumpeting elephants sound – Hear, Romans, now and tremble! Hark to their step on the ground – Hear the drums! Hannibal comes!**"

Rose shook her head. "I think that's enough for now. I don't think I could sit for the rest of this scene. Let's start the actual story tomorrow."

"Good idea."

* * *

P.S. This scene is boring. Don't kill me! I tried to make it as interesting as possible! I'll do better! 


End file.
